Five Things We Learned in Bills 27-11 Loss to Jets

The Buffalo Bills saw their four-game home winning streak snapped, when the New York Jets defeated the Bills 27-11. The game dropped the Bills (5-3) into a tie with the Jets (5-3) in the competitive AFC East division. 

The Bills were thoroughly beaten today, and they will have to have a short-term memory after this game. The Bills will need to regroup and get back to work next week in Dallas. 

Today, we look at five things we learned today about the Bills from the game against the Jets. 

The Bad First Half Pattern Didn't Work Today

The Bills have turned in some less-than-ideal first halves earlier in the season at home (against New England and Oakland), only to come back in the second half of those games to pull out a wild win. Well, once again the Bills turned in an anemic first half (they were shut out), but this time they were not able to go to their second half comeback formula to pull the game out. 

The Bills had some close calls in the second half, but failed to convert on fourth-down tries. The Bills have been able to pull away from some teams, specifically Kansas City and Washington, but most of the time they start slowly, and that hurt them today. 

The Bills simply have to start out stronger, and when the defense is struggling to get off the field, that puts all the more pressure on the offense to come up big. 

The Bills Defense Bended and Then Finally Broke

The Bills defense kept giving up first downs in the first quarter, but despite the Jets holding a big advantage in yards gained and time of possession, the game was still scoreless at the end of the first quarter. Safety Jairus Byrd came up with a big interception in the end zone, and the Bills were bending but even though they were getting tired, they were keeping the Bills in the game. 

Another turnover by Sanchez, this time a fumble, allowed the Bills to come in to the half trailing only 3-0. The Bills had a chance to come back, since the Jets allowed them to hang close to them. The Jets came out in the third quarter with a long kickoff return, and they added a field goal to make it 6-0. 

The Jets came out in the second half with four consecutive scoring drives, and that in essence was the game. The Bills had one sack in the first quarter from Alex Carrington, but that was it. This game showed that the Bills' pass-rush isn't as good as they showed against the Washington Redskins, but are probably better than they showed today against the Jets. 

Bills Are Only as Good as Ryan Fitzpatrick Plays

It was somewhat gratifying to see Ryan Fitzpatrick connect on some passes to Steve Johnson against Darrelle Revis in the second half, considering that Johnson was shut out in the first half. 

As Fitzpatrick goes, so goes the Bills. I don't know what his QB passer rating was in the first half, but at halftime, Fitzpatrick was 4-of-12 for 24 yards and two interceptions. Not his best half of football, to be sure. 

For the game, Fitzpatrick went 15-of-31 for 191 yards, one touchdown and the two interceptions. Fitzpatrick had an average pass of 6.2 yards. His QB passer rating for the game was 51.9.

Fitzpatrick did well not to be sacked once by the Jets defense. He did throw under pressure several times, and whenever that happened, he threw the ball away rather than stand in to the last second and take a big hit like he did against the Redskins. 

Fred Jackson Keeps Grinding out the Yards

For the game, Fred Jackson rushed 18 times for 82 yards, and caught three passes for 38 yards. Jackson had a rough game by some accounts, when you consider his key fumble when the score was only 6-0 Jets, and quickly turned to 13-0 from there. He also had a fourth down pass go off his hands when the Bills were trying to mount a comeback in the fourth quarter. 

Jackson seemed to be banged up on the play that he fumbled the ball, the first time this year that Jackson had fumbled. He returned to the game later in the half, but if he is not able to play next week against the Cowboys, that would seriously hinder the Bills offense. 

The Bills need to give Jackson at least 20 carries, and some may think that 20 carries a game isn't enough. If Jackson can't play, it appears that the Bills would have no choice but to plug C.J. Spiller in, and hope that the drop off wouldn't be too severe. 

Bills Decide to Abandon the Wildcat Offense Today

Despite a number of key 3rd-and-1 opportunities, the Bills decided not to use Brad Smith in the Wildcat offense today. 

True, the New York Jets know Smith very well, due to the years that he spent with them. But, in every other key short yardage situation that Smith has been asked to come in and execute, he has been able to move the chains for the Bills. 

Today, with such a key game and so much at stake, the Bills never even tried to test the Jets defense to see if Smith could convert for them. There were several times today that the Bills were not able to convert short yardage plays, and I wondered if the outcome would have been different had Smith been in there. 

It will probably help the Bills' short yardage game to get Andy Levitre back at guard, and hopefully either Demetrius Bell or Chris Hairston will be healthy enough to take over at tackle.